A dual purpose visit to the big smoke. Friday was Chemical Brothers at All Points East festival, which I’ll tell you about in another post, but Saturday was a visit to the British Museum and in particular, the Manga exhibition and the main reason we came to London in the first place, if you ask Mum ❤️❤️❤️
The British Museum’s ‘Manga’ exhibition had a lot to cover in order to sum up manga, the Japanese art of visual storytelling. It’s lasted for hundreds of years and continues to grow, taking in video games, cinema, art and literature, with millions upon millions of devoted fans. Thankfully it started by explaining how to read manga (right to left, top to bottom), before exploring the history and origins of the art form and there were some simply stunning things to see. Manga is on at the British Museum, London, 23 May to 26 August 2019.
We also took a look around the main museum, which I have to say is fantastic. It’s probably best to download the app for the floor plan or buy a map as there is a lot to look around, but all well explained and the displays are well curated, with lots of very valuable and pivotal artefacts. You would probably need at least 3 hours to just scratch the surface of what is in there. “Cor blimey” is a saying down in London, used to express surprise. Well it was no surprise to me that Dad’s attention span won’t last anywhere near that long, so after an hour or so and a quick look around the gift shop, we were on our way.
Time for a pint me thinks and just across the road on the corner of Great Russell Street was the Museum Tavern. Inevitably pandering to tourists who flock to the British Museum, it was an attractive, traditional hostelry that also seemed to appeal to Londoners with a taste for decent ales. It definitely had the feel of a proper London ‘boozer, with its Victorian interior with carved wood and etched glass. A few pints of Beavertown Brewery’s Neck Oil (at an eye-watering £6.50 a pint!) and a burger and then off to find some street art and a few touristy stops like Trafalgar square, Nelson’s Column and I won’t forgot to mention walking all the way over to Big Ben only to find it surrounded by scaffolding! And there you have it (or “Bobs your uncle” as they would say down here), London all done.